Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a driving device.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, driving devices have been actively developed that transmit driving force from a motor to a lens unit via a plurality of gears, so that the lens unit can be moved in an optical axis direction. Such a driving device is discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-329089.
The driving device discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-329089 has a configuration in which a power-drive mode and a manual mode can be changed. In the power-drive mode, the lens unit is moved by the motor. In the manual mode, the lens unit is moved by the user rotating a ring disposed on an outer circumference of the lens barrel. More specifically, the configuration features a switch for moving some of a plurality of gears that receives the driving force from the motor, in a rotational axis direction of the gears. Thus, some of the plurality of gears are released or they mesh with each other.
However, in the configuration discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-329089, it is necessary to prepare a space at a movement destination of a stepped gear so that a large diameter portion of the stepped gear does not interfere with other components when the stepped gear moves to change between the power-drive mode and the manual mode. Thus, the driving device with the configuration discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-329089 may be large as a whole.